By Joey Hislop
What a difference a year can make.
After having difficulty simply finding a field to call home before the 2008 season, the Logan Stampede now have the dubious task of finding a place to store all their trophies.
Not only did the Stampede storm through the 2009 season undefeated, earning the right to hoist the Rocky Mountain Football League AADivision trophy after a 27-13 championship win over the Utah Valley Desperados, but now that the season is over, it’s time for the rest of the hardware and accolades to come rolling in.
For what any one of his players will tell you was a season of excellent play calling — and for leading a formerly three-win team to a 10-0 record — Stampede head coach Bracken Atkinson was named the RMFL AADivision’s Coach of the Year, an honor he shared with Magic Valley’s Jesse Houdeshell.
“It’s obviously an honor because there’s a lot of good coaches in this league,” Atkinson said. “But I think it reflects on the team I had more than anything. I’m proud that they got me the coach of the year more than what I was able to accomplish.
“... I think it speaks to
the discipline of our team. Anytime a coach gets recognized as a great coach,
it reflects on how disciplined and how prepared the players are. ... We had a great group of guys.”
On the sidelines, the self-professed “sub-par athlete” is no stranger to success. Atkinson was a part of a Meridian High School coaching staff that won the Idaho 5A state championship in 2007. Atkinson is currently the receivers coach at Sky View.
However, Atkinson says, coaching in the RMFL presents some dilemmas much different than that of the high school game.
“Everybody talks about how we’ve got players from 18 (years old) to 43, but what you don’t realize is I’ve got 57 guys that either played no high school ball, no organized football, high school football or college football,” he said.
“So they’ve all got different experiences, and I’ve gotta find a way to not only deal with them personally as grown men, and get them on board, but I’ve also gotta figure out what is their actual football knowledge. ... That’s probably the hardest thing.”
Atkinson was not alone in receiving postseason awards. Stampede quarterback Mike Jenkins led the voting for RMFLAA-Division Most Valuable Player. Jenkins led the division with an amazing 77.4 completion percentage, throwing for 1,243 yards and 13 touchdowns for a rating of 122.5.
“It’s pretty cool,” Jenkins said of the honor. “... It was a cool feeling. ... I can give a lot of the credit to the receivers for catching the ball. I’ve never played with receivers like this where they just caught everything. It was nice. ... It was the most fun I’ve had playing football.”
Jenkins, a Cache Valley native, played briefly at Sky View before moving to Cyprus and later playing at Idaho State. Jenkins had played for the Ogden Rockets prior to joining the Stampede this past season.
Jenkins credits not only his receivers and his offensive line for his success this year, but also the fact that a few familiar targets migrated north with him in tight end Kody Merritt and running back Dave Williams.
In fact, Williams was also the recipient of some hardware of his own. The do-it-all back was named the RMFLAA-Division Scoring Champion for his 452 rushing yards (71 carries), 229 receiving yards (25 catches) and seven TDs.
Williams, a Dallas native and former Missouri Valley College star, was also the 16th-leading rusher in the nation as a senior in high school. Despite all that, at the beginning of the season, Williams wasn’t expecting to play as large a role in the Stampede offense as he did.
“I just wanted to come to this team and contribute wherever they wanted me to contribute,” Williams said. “I didn’t have any plans. All I wanted to do was just help the team out.
“... It’s a great honor to get that award. I was surprised when they called my name. It’s just a great honor. I’m happy. It means a lot me.”
In addition to the aforementioned awards, Jenkins and Williams were also named to the AA-Division First Team. Jenkins finished tied for first in the voting for Offensive Player of the Year, while Williams came in third.
Stampede linebacker and general manager Dave Curtis was third in the voting for GM of the Year, and receiver Jesse Yarger, defensive lineman Travis Davis and defensive back Brandon Carlisle were all named to the AA-Division First Team.
Merritt, offensive lineman Greg Christensen, defensive lineman Drew Augustus and punter Logan Hull were named to the AA-Division Second Team.
Eli Lucero/Herald Journal
Quarterback Mike Jenkins, left, head coach Bracken Atkinson, center, and linebacker/general manager Dave Curtis were part of the Logan Stampede that won the AA RMFL Championship this season.
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